Timeless Wisdom from America's Founders
". . . we pledge our lives, our souls, and our sacred honour." -The Declaration of Independence
More has been written about America's founders than perhaps any other similar group in recorded history. This is, in part, a result of their extraordinary collection of talents, for not since Periclean Athens has such a small nation been led by so many larger-than-life figures: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin, and so many more that otherwise first-rate intellects such as John Dickinson, Benjamin Rush, and George Mason are relegated to the status of footnotes in the popular imagination.
In addition to this enormous library of secondary literature, the actual writings - essays, broadsides, correspondence, and such ephemera as The Federalist and The Declaration of Independence - offer an enormous range of thinking on virtually every aspect of "the good". . . good government, good relations between nations and individuals, and what it means to live a good life. Comprising chapters on Piety, Justice (or, perhaps Mercy), Probity, Industry, Comity, Patriotism, Civility, Prudence, and Frugality (or Thrift), Courage, Purity (or Chastity), Humility, and Charity, comprising both original work by the founders and the "myths" for which they have become known as moral exemplars and is interspersed with essays on the Providential Order, the proper nature of neighbors, and more.
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